We would like to offer our warmest congratulations to Norma Owens, who has been awarded the 2024 MacCurtain/Cullen Essay Prize for her essay ‘Was the Cong Lace Industry Better than Home Rule?’.

Norma Owens is currently pursuing an M.A. in History at the University of Galway, where she also works as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. Her previous qualifications include a degree in Education from the University of Limerick, a B.A. in Photography from Dublin Institute of Technology (now TUD), and a certificate in Local History from the University of Limerick. Research interests include early modern women’s history and gender history, social history, female proto-industrial labour, Irish lace & textiles. Her research into the Headford Lace industry contributed towards its acceptance onto the National Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2021.